After Misc One and Misc Two filled up rapidly, I then didn’t really read any “misc” for a while. Or rather, I did but it was usually short story sets, which got posts of their own.
TO FLEE A STARLESS SKY, by N. C. Scrimgeour
Genre: Sci-Fi Age Range: Adult Star Rating: 4 stars Series: prequel, #0.5
TO FLEE A STARLESS SKY (Goodreads here) is a prequel short story to the Waystations trilogy, set before the opening of THOSE LEFT BEHIND, the first book. It follows one of the POVs, Ridley, as she heads back to the surface after years in the sky, in order to get data from a mural in the mines.
The novella is about her feeling suspended between two worlds. Too much topsider to be part of the surfacer, but never one of the topsiders because of her “humble” origins. It’s nice to get a sense of her before everything kicks off, see her uncertainties in her home, not just compounded by everything happening on the ship.
MYSTERIES OF THORN MANOR, by Margaret Rogerson
Genre: Fantasy Age Range: YA Star Rating: 4 stars Series: yes - novella sequel
MYSTERIES OF THORN MANOR (Goodreads here) is effectively an extended epilogue to SORCERY OF THORNS. Elizabeth is now living with Nathanial Thorn, the newly restored demon Silas, and a new house member Mercy. And life is going well – until the wards start acting up, trapping them inside. And so begins an exploration of the house to discover what is wrong and how to fix it.
It’s basically a fun, extended tour of the house and all its dangerous and charming magic. Rooms that can disappear at will – or at a sorcerer’s desire. Deadly clothes. A ballroom made of mirrors. It’s a very fun (very, very short) read, pretty much an indulgent exploration of their lives after the book (and with hints of other stories that could be told about their lives) which has made me want to re-read SORCERY OF THORNS again. It also feels like a homage to fairy tales.
RIDEN’S CHAPTER, by Tricia Levenseller
Genre: Fantasy Age Range: YA Star Rating: 4 stars Series: yes - 0.5 or 1.5!
RIDEN’S CHAPTER (Goodreads here) is a reworking of the first chapter of DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING from, as the title suggests, Riden’s POV. (The link to the pdf can be found on the Goodreads page.)
As the entire series is from Alosa’s POV, it’s interesting to see his first experience of meeting her. We get to see the things he says to his brother that she observes but doesn’t hear and also how loyal Riden is – and why. Plus his motivations in that scene (namely, stop his brother doing bad things because of her goading.)
What bookish misc have you read in the last six months?
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 